Pocketed file folder



April 1953 A. w. voss El'AL 2,633,848

POCKETED FILE FOLDER Original File d June 13, 1947 iiliiiiin llllllll?II'IIII I INVENTORS Patented Apr. 7, 1953 POCKETED FILE FOLDER Arnold W.Voss and Robert M. Trachte, Madison, Wis.

,Continuation of application Serial No. 754,348, June 13, 1947. Thisapplication June 11, 1952,

Serial No. 292,961

7 Claims.

The invention relates to means for facilitatin the filing of paperarticles such as cards, checks, vouchers and the like and has for itsprincipal object the provision of an improved pocketed file folder ofsimple and inexpensive construction and adapted to contain an assortmentof such articles as those mentioned above, and this application is acontinuation of our application Serial No. 754,348, filed June 13, 1947,now abandoned. I

An important object of the invention is to provide a file folderincluding a pair of sheets arranged in back to back relationship andsecured together along their marginal edges, the portions of the sheetswithin the marginal edges being provided with a plurality of openingscommunieating with the area between the proximate surfaces of the sheet,and the sheets being secured together along certain portions of theopenings to provide a plurality of pockets to which access may be hadthrough the openings. It is another object of the invention to'arrange aplurality of such combined sheets in a folder and to associate with suchfolder a plurality of article-carrying fiaps or envelopes, whereby thepockets may contain filed checks, and the flaps may contain relatedcheck stubs. Other objects of the invention are: to provide the folderof relatively few sheet elements advantageously secured together andformed to accomplish the foregoing objects; to provide a folder that islight-weight and compact when folded, the flaps or envelopes beingcontained within the opposed sheets or leaves of the folder; and toconstruct the flaps with such dimensions that the flaps may lie withinthe closed folder Without substantial overlap of one flap on the other.

The foregoing and other objects will appear as the disclosure is morefully made in the following detailed description and accompanying sheetof drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a face View of the folder in its opened position, the foldedpositions of the flaps being indicated in dot-dash lines;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of one of the pocket-forming sheets shown beforeassembly into the folder; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the folder shown in substantially closedposition.

The disclosure herein is of a preferred embodiment of the invention andreference to the parts thereof as being of a certain size or shape, orreference to other details of the construction, should be taken asillustrative and not limiting.

The folder preferably comprises a generally rectangular backing member10 hinged along a section centered on and diagrammatically representedby a line H between opposed lon sides of such folder. Although the foldsection is represented by the line H, such section exceeds line width asillustrated in Fig. 4, and in fact may comprise spaced parallel creasesalong which the parts at the opposite sides of the fold section areswingable in book cover fashion. The backing member is formed ofrelatively stiff sheet material and may be of any suitable constructionsuch as cardboard, paper, paperboard, binding board, impregnated fabricor the like. The

" backing member is divided by the hinge line H into first and secondopposed leaves or pages [2 and [3. It will be understood, of course,that the pages or leaves may be separate elements joined together byflexible means to provide a hinge along the line I I. The hinge providesfor folding and unfolding of the leaves to closed and open position inbook fashion.

Each of the leaves has superimposed thereon a generally rectangularsheet [4. Since these sheets may be identical, only one will bedescribed, the details of one being applicable to the construction ofthe other. The sheet I4 is secured at its marginal edges to the upper orinner surface of the page or leaf l2. The securing means may includeadhesive, stapling, stitching, or any other suitable means. The portionof the sheets 14 within the marginal edges thereof is unsecured, exceptas will hereinafter appear, so that there is a generally rectangulararea or space between the proximate surfaces of the back to back sheetand leaf.

The sheet I4 is provided with a plurality of spaced openings in the formof relatively long narrow slots l5. The formation of the slots I5 leavesa plurality of intervening sheet sections l 6, the opposite end portionsI I of which remain integral with the sheet in proximity to the securedmarginal edges thereof. The openings or slots I5 and intervening sheetsections l6 are alternately arranged; in other Words, each interveningsheet section is bordered on opposed side edges thereof by a slot. Priorto assembly of the sheet M on either the leaf I2 or 13, the sheet isprovided with a plurality of slits [8, the end portions of which arejoined by short cuts or slits 19 (Fig. 3). In the preferred form of theinvention herein illustrated, the cuts or slits I8 and I9 are formed onthree sides of a long narrow rectangle, the other side of the rectanglebeing delineated by a line of folding, shown at 3 in dotted lines inFig. 3. The area of the small rectangle just described is represented bya sheet portion 2|, which portion is displaced or folded inwardly andbent back over its proximate integral sheet section IS. The relationshipbetween the folded or displaced portion 2! and the sheet I4 andproximate leaf i2 is shown in Fig. 2. The folded under portion 2|provides along one side edge of each intervening sheet section It aportion of double thickness. The portion 2| is secured to the upper orinner surface of the leaf and the double thickness of this portionspaces each intervening sheet section outwardly from the inner or uppersurface of the leaf. The remainder of the intervening sheet sectionremainsfree or unsecured with respect to the leaf. It

will thus be seen that the construction thus far described provides aplurality of pockets each of which is defined by the intervening sheetsection, its integral end portions I1 and the secured fo lded underportion 2!. In'the preferred form of the invention disclosed the pocketsare arranged vertically one above the other. The top of the first orupper pocket opens along the top or upper opening I 5 and access to thispocket may be had'through the opening and the spaced relation betweenthe upper edge of the intervening sheetse'ction 1B and the leaf [2 byvirtue of the outward spacing thereof by the folded-under I portion 2!.In the case of the last or bottom pocket. the bottom of the pocket isprovided by thepr'oximate marginal edge portion of the sheet that issecured to the leaf. The double thickness along the bottom edge of eachintervening sheet section it tends to impart to the sections a slightlyarcuate shape so that access to the pockets through the openings I 5 maybe easily gained. The pockets may thus readily receive flat articlessuch as cards, checks, vouchers or the like. The pockets may or may notbear identifying indicia to further augment the'adaptability of thefolder as a filing device.

A still further feature of the invention is the provision'of additionalarticle-carrying means in conjunction with the pocketed sheets justdescribed. In the form of the invention shown here, each additionalmeans is represented by a flap o'r envelope '2 2. Each flap is ofgenerally rectangular shape and is hinged along one of its long edges tothe folder and'is adapted to be contained within the folder when thefolder is closed. One flap is associated in hinged relationship with theinside surface of the backing member H} substantially along the hingeline I1 and the other flap is associated in hinged rela tionship to thebacking member along a marginal edge thereof apart from the hinge H.

The construction shown in thedrawings represents a preferred type offlap or envelope and the manner of associating the same with the backingmember. As shown in Fig. 3, wherein an unassembled blank is illustrated,the sheet [4 includes integrally at one edge thereof a secondarysheet-section '23. This section 'in its entirety may be folded withrespect to the sheet i4 along the fold lines 2 1 and 25. The lines 24and 25 could Well be coincident but are spaced apart to increase thecapacity of the flap or envelope 22. The section 23 is foldable along aline 26 which divides the section 23 into inner and outer halves 2i and28. The portion 2? includes integral tabs 22, each of which-is foldablealong a fold line 30 normal'to the fold line 26. The flap 22 is formedby folding of the portion '28 back upon the portionZ! along theline 26.The tabs 29 arefo1ded over the ends of the portion 28 and are securedthereto, as by adhesive stapling, stitching or other suitable means. Theportion 28 is provided with an arcuate notch 3| to facilitate theinsertion and removal of articles into and out of the flap 22.

When the assembled sheet 14 is mounted on the left-hand leaf or page 12,the hinge 2425 between the sheet proper and the flap 22 liessubstantially along the hinge I 2 between the opposed pages or leaves l2and [3. The flap 22 may be folded to the left, as shown in full lines inFig. 1, or to the right as shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 1. When theassembled sheet is mounted on the right-hand page or leaf I3, the hingeline 24--25 lies substantially along the extreme righthand marginal edgeof the leaf. The flap may be unfolded to the extended position shown infull lines in Fig. 1 or may .be folded inwardly to lie on top of thesheet portion M as shown in dotdash lines in Fig. 1.

The dimensions of and relationship between the flaps 22 are such thatthe flaps may be contained within the closed folder without substantialoverlap of onefiap with respect to the other. In the disclosure based ona preferred form of the invention, the short dimension of each flap 22is substantially half the width of the sheet l4. As shown in dot-dashlines in Fig. 1, wherein both flaps 22 are folded on top of theright-hand sheet i i, the free unhinged edges of the flaps lie in closeproximity to each other. The result is that there is no increased bulkto the folder when closed.

A preferred use of the filing device just described is in connectionwith the filing of checks and check stubs. It will be noted that thereare six pockets on each page of the folder, a total of twelve torepresent the twelve months in a year. Each pocket may contain cancelledchecks for a particular month. The flaps or envelopes 22 may contain therelated check stubs. It is preferred that the pockets are sufficientlyshallow so that the upper portions of the checks may extend therefrom.

It will also be noted that the displaced portion2'l that is folded backfrom the formation of the opening i5 is relatively narrow so that itoccupies only a relatively small proportion of the area at the bottom ofthe pocket, thus affording to the pocket greatest capacity andflexibility consistent with the provision of a neat and compact filingdevice. A further advantage of the construction disclosed is theprovision of the the sheets 14 as duplicates so that special sheets neednot be provided'for right or left-hand pages or leaves of the foldablebacking member. In this" connection 'a further advantage is achieved inthe provision of the'fiaps as integral elements of thesheets. The entireconstruction is inex pensive and lends itself readilytomodern'production methods. The finished product is neat, compact andhighly useful and even when full lies relatively fiat and possesses noneof the bulkiness characteristic of filing devices heretofore known.

Other advantages of the pocketed file folder willundoubtedlyoccurtothose skilled in the art, as will various modifications and alterationsin the preferred 'form of the invention illustrated. It should beunderstood, of course, that such modifications and alterations may bemade with-' out departure from the underlying principles of theinvention.

What-is claimed is:

1. A file folder, comprising: a cover structure including unarticulatedfront and back sections hingedly connected at contiguous inner edges andeach section having an inner face which is disposed substantiallycoplanar with such face of the other section when the cover structure isopen and which inner faces are disposed in opposed parallelism when thecover structure is closed; a sheet having a slotted pocket-formingportion attached flatwise to the inner face of one of said coverstructure sections and cooperating with said one section to form pocketmeans accessible through the slots of said sheet, said slots extendingtransversely with reference to the inner edge of the one back section,said sheet including holding means in the form of a pocket-forming flapintegrally and swingably connected with an outer edge of the slottedportion extending in contiguous parallelism with the outer edge of saidone cover structure section, said pocket-forming flap being swingable toand from a position wherein it lies flatly upon a portion only of theslotted sheet portion; and a second holding means in the form of apocket-forming flap hingedly connected with an inner face of the coverstructure adjacently to and at a section extending length- Wise of theinner edges of said front and back cover structure sections, and thesecond pocketforming flap being adapted to lie upon another portion ofthe slotted sheet portion without concurrently lying upon anysubstantial part of the portion occupied by the first pocket-formingflap.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the hinged connectionof the second pocketforming flap is upon the inner face of the othercover structure section.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein there is a second sheetessentially identical with the first sheet and having its slottedpocketforming portion attached flatwise to the inner face of the othercover structure section, wherein the second pocket-forming flap is thatintegral with the second sheet and depends from an inner edge of thesecond sheet adjacently to the inner edge of said other cover structuresection.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3, wherein said pocket-formingflaps project transversely of their hinged connections with theirslotted sheet portions a combined distance not exceeding butsubstantially equal to the distance between the inner and outer edges ofthe sheet having the flap projecting from its outer edge.

5. A file folder, comprising: a cover structure including inarticulatedfront and back sections hingedly connected at contiguous inner edges andeach section having an opposite outer edge and an inner face which isdisposed substantially coplanar with such face of the other section whenthe cover structure is open and which inner faces are disposed inopposed parallelism when the cover structure is closed, each ofsaidi'sections also having an upper edge and a lower='edge;pocket-forming sheet means assembled with the inner face of one of thecover structure sections to form pocket means flatly thereon andproviding access opening means for such pocket means extendingsubstantially between the inner and outer edges of such section, part ofsaid opening means being near the upper edge of the cover section andpart of said opening means being near the lower edge of such section;holding means in the form of a pocket-forming V flap hingedly connectedwith one of said cover sections at a portion extending in contiguousparallelism with its outer edge and substantially coextensive with suchedge, said pocket-forming flap being swingable to and from a positionwherein it lies flatly against a portion only of the pocket means whenthe cover structure is closed; and a second holding means in the form ofa pocket-forming flap hingedly connected with an inner face of the coverstructure adjacently to and at a section extending lengthwise of andsubstantially coextensive with the inner edges of said front and backcover structure sections, and the second pocketforming flap beingadapted to lie against another portion of the pocket means withoutconcurrently lying upon the portion occupied by the first pocket-formingflat.

6. The combination set forth in claim 5, wherein said pocket-formingflaps extend toward one another while lying against the pocket means andextend from their hinged connections a combined distance not exceedingbut substantially equal to the distance between such hinged connectionswhile the folder is closed.

'7. A file folder, comprising: a cover structure including inarticulatedfront and back sections hingedly connected at contiguous inner edges andeach section having an opposite outer edge and an inner face which isdisposed substantially coplanar with such face of the other section whenthe cover structure is open and which inner faces are disposed inopposed parallelism when the cover structure is closed, each of saidsections also having an upper edge and a lower edge; pocketforming sheetmeans assembled with the inner faces of said sections to form a seriesof pockets flatly on each thereof having laterally-spaced respectiveaccess openings extending substantially between the inner and outeredges of their respective said sections, part of the openings on eachcover section being near the upper edge thereof and part of saidopenings being near the lower edge thereof; holding means in the form ofa pocket-forming flap hingedly connected with one of the cover sectionsat a portion extending in contiguous parallelism with its outer edge,said flap being substantially coextensive with such edge and swingableabout its hinged connection to and from a position wherein it liesflatly upon a portion only of the pocket means of the one section; and asecond pocket-forming flap hingedly connected with the inner face of theother cover section at a portion extending in contiguous parallelismwith its inner edge, said second flap being substantially coextensivewith such inner edge and swingable about its hinged connection toalternately lie upon portions of the pocket means of said sections, andsaid flaps extending from their hinged connections a combined distancenot exceeding but substantially equal to the distance between suchhinged connections while the folder is closed.

ARNOLD W. VOSS. ROBERT M. TRACHTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 665,256 McCombs Jan. 1, 19011,329,910 Lambert Feb. 3, 1920 1,683,996 Snow Sept. 11, 1928 ,631 OsbornMay 24, 1932

